Without Moscow noticing anything, Berlin real estate swindlers are said to have sold huge plots of land owned by Russians. A dentist posed as a Kremlin official. One sale alone brought 13.5 million euros. Russia is now fighting for property rights.

Russia has apparently become the victim of a real estate fraud in Germany worth millions. According to research by "Spiegel", the Berlin public prosecutor's office is investigating several suspects who are said to have sold at least four Russian state-owned properties in Berlin last year - without Moscow noticing anything. At the center of the investigation is a 69-year-old dentist from Berlin who, using allegedly forged powers of attorney, posed as a representative of the Kremlin's presidential administration and is said to have deceived buyers, notaries and land registries.

The dentist and his 57-year-old confidant, who is said to have procured the false Kremlin powers of attorney for him, are now being investigated on suspicion of joint fraud and forgery of documents. According to land register files available to "Spiegel", the dentist used his alleged powers of attorney to sell an area of ​​around 17,000 square meters at the old airfield in East Berlin's Karlshorst district in September 2021, as well as three vacant residential buildings that used to house members of the Red Army . The purchase price was 13.5 million euros.

According to research by "Spiegel", the Russian embassy only found out about the sale of the properties in March 2022. It informed the Federal Foreign Office and filed a criminal complaint. As a spokesman for the embassy said on request, the embassy is supporting the public prosecutor's office in their investigations. At the same time, the "question of restoring the ownership rights of the Russian Federation to real estate" is currently being clarified. At the instigation of the public prosecutor, the land was confiscated as a precaution and most of the purchase price was frozen.

In addition to the area in Berlin-Karlshorst, the dentist is said to have tried to sell the former Soviet Consulate General in Berlin-Dahlem and a lake property belonging to the Russian Federation in Brandenburg. In addition, the sale of the former office building of the Russian airline Aeroflot not far from the Brandenburg Gate, which is right next to the embassy, ​​was apparently being prepared. The defenders of the accused dentist and his confidants did not want to comment on request.